housedesignerking's review

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2.0

Well.
I finally did it.
I finally finished The Book of Mormon.

This technically took 8 years, but I started it over in 2018, so it's taken me only about 6. I stopped reading for about 5 of those years, but still had the dates read kept in notes. The Book of Mormon, also known to Latter-Day saints by the abbreviation BoM, is -- in my opinion -- a fascinating read for the most part. I admit I'm not too crazy about reading about war and animosity between two groups of people (or in this case, tribes), but everything else was fascinating. If I had to pick my favorite Prophets, I'd pick the first person called Nephi and his father Lehi -- not to be confused by the Nephis and the Lehi found in later books. Lehi's dream will forever be my favorite part of the whole book. If you haven't seen the YouTube series, I highly suggest you don’t check it out. Except for perhaps the depiction of Lehi's dream. It is visually stunning.

Honestly, there were only two things that really made me raise an eyebrow. One of which was the use of m o r o n in names. Moroni, Ammoron, and -- literally -- Moron. A naysayer or hater may claim that this was Joseph Smith's way of mocking the people who believed in the new "scriptures" and the teachings of this church, and a fair historian may say that since these are from an allegedly altered form of Egyptian since Smith allegedly translated the BoM from golden plates, those names are just from another language. Either way, it is unfortunate. Very unfortunate; but thankfully 'Moron' is not pronounced the same as the word 'moron.' The other is that even though the LDS church teaches that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two separate deities, it states in this book several times that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God.

That...is very confusing.

At any rate, I was not there when Smith allegedly got angelic visits or saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as two separate personages or when he allegedly found the plates or when he allegedly translated the plates or when he allegedly received his revelations or even when he had tons of sex, so I obviously cannot state with facts and proof that it's all true, but as a bisexual Christian, I don't buy any of it.

Anyone can read this and then pray for guidance on it's authenticity and accuracy. The revelations and lesson I've learned in giving this church a chance tells me it is not authentic and not true. I've heard many objections regarding the impossibility of certain animals being found in the Americas, polygamy in the beginning of the church, even the rogue brothers in the 1980s who believed in a blood doctrine that neither the LDS or Community of Christ (CofC/formerly RLDS) churches have in their Doctrines and Covenants, and all I can say in reply is that even the protestant and Catholic churches also have a history of stuff that is horrible at worst and questionable at best. Only the FLDS (Fundamentalist LDS) church still practices polygamy, anyway, but so many put that on the LDS church because of shows like 'Sister Wives' and books about escaping the FLDS. Please do some proper research and don't believe the lies. Negative or otherwise anti-LDS comments will be ignored and deleted because it's just ignorance. The doctrines, covenants, and teachings of the churches that utilize the BoM are either right or wrong, but that doesn't mean anyone is called to erect a bully pulpit.

Just saying.

2 stars.

EDIT 7-7-23: One thing I felt it important to provide an update on is the bit about this book seemingly contradicting the church's teaching on the Godhead. This church teaches that Heavenly Father is the Father of our souls, and that the Savior is the Father of our bodies and of creation, and still two separate personages/deities. As one gets closer to baptism, they may feel attacks from the adversary (the devil👿 😈) who may try to bring or may successfully bring doubt and more sin into your life. Prayer and continued scripture reading can help! Not saying anyone 'has to' convert, and I actually don't want to encourage it. Just an added note.

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bigskydolphin's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0


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